I am not a skier, and in fact, I’ve never skied in my life! But I’m working on building my card stash for an upcoming Holiday Craft Show, and had to pull out this amazing set from Close To My Heart called Steep & Deep! I love the simplified images of the skier and snowboarder and I began by heat-embossing them in black onto a Bristol Smooth card stock. After embossing the snowboarder in black, I heat-embossed the snowflakes with clear powder. My next step was to sponge on a heavy layer of Faded Jeans distress oxide ink, mainly around the edges and at the top, then went over it and added color to the center with Cracked Pistachio oxide ink. I used a baby wipe to remove the excess ink from the snowflakes so they would pop! After setting the inks with my heat tool, I dripped water onto the panel which left behind the wonderful mottled look to depict snowflakes! I colored the snowboarder with Zig markers, then stamped the trees and sentiment using Versafine Onyx Black ink.I repeated the process for this card, then sponged some Black Soot oxide ink around the edges. I trimmed down the main panel to layer onto a piece of white card stock then mounted it to a black card base. Coordinated stamped envelopes are always a must! I think these cards are pretty cool and hope they’ll sell well at the craft fair! Vermont has many skiers, so they should snap these up! Hmmm….maybe I’d better make more! 🙂 Thank you for visiting!
Did you know that Brutus Monroe has a Stamp of the Month Club? It’s a sweet little deal and if you’re interested in the details, click HERE! So, how freaking cute is this vampire candy corn?? He’s this month’s image for the Club and we all loved playing with him! My card involved some masking and stamping but was worth the extra effort! I began with a piece of Bristol Smooth card stock and stamped my first little vampire then heat-embossed with black. I created a mask so I could cover him up in order to stamp the second one. Heat-embossed in black again and so on till I had filled my panel with scary little vampire’s! In the process, I got a few inky fingerprints on my panel, but knew I’d be covering it with a layer of black ink, so didn’t sweat it!Next I pulled out my new Aqua Pigments and did a little color mixing since I don’t have the complete collection. Mixing colors was easy and I can lighten or deepen my shades by the addition of water or extra ink! I added shading to the white parts by watering down the tiniest drop of black pigment!To fill in my background, I had to cover the top layer of vampire’s with the masks, then using upward strokes with my sponge tool, I added Zest Surface ink to the panel. I covered most of that with a heavy layer of Black Soot distress oxide ink, then a final layer of Raven Detail ink!Next I moved the masks to the bottom row of vampire’s and filled in the space below, again with Black Soot then Raven. I used a black Zig to deepen the color below the candy corn. BITE ME was heat-embossed in white over the black. I enhanced the eyes and teeth with a white gel pen.I trimmed down my panel with Stitched Rectangle dies, then mounted it to another panel upon which I’d stamped Dance With Denim in Carved Pumpkin oxide ink! I like the textured look of it framing my card on a black base card! Lastly, the Trick or Treat sentiment is from an old CTMH stamp set called Thriller. This card was pretty fun to make and I loved seeing it emerge! Now, let’s see what the Inspiration Team has made with their Stamp of The Month! HEATHER LAURENMARIEJESS
As a stamper and card artist, I find inspiration in some unexpected places! Like, at the Dollar Tree! I found this gorgeous plate there last week and just love the artists watercolor style! I had to have it, so it came home with me! I knew right away that I’d use Brutus Monroe’s Pumpkin Faces set to make my card; it comes with TEN various sized and shaped pumpkins plus ten faces to add on! Now, I like scary pumpkins as much as anyone, but how wonderful that I can use this set for an elegant card! I stamped and heat-embossed the four pumpkins in silver, masking in order to layer them. In retrospect, I wish I’d used dark gray ink instead. Using the plate as a guide, I colored the pumpkins with a variety of Zig markers in shades of green, gray and brown, adding water to soften the ink. My leaves and vines are from an old CTMH set called Grapevine and I think they beautifully complement the design. I stamped them with Bundled Sage oxide ink. At this point, I realized that Brutus Monroe’s Hit The Brick background would go perfectly so I inked it up with Bundled Sage oxide and gently maneuvered the stamp to fill in the space above the pumpkins. That’s the beauty of flexible cling stamps! I trimmed my panel with a Stitched Rectangle die then mounted it to a panel of dark gray. On a piece of vanilla card stock, I stamped more of the vines and leaves with Bundled Sage again and attached it to a base card of Jurassic card stock. When my card was complete, I made a coordinating envelope with more vines and leaves. I’m pretty happy with my card and hope you like it too! Now, I’m off to Dollar Tree to buy more of these plates! And you should head straight to Brutus Monroe to check out these pumpkins! 😀
We’re blog hopping at Brutus Monroe today and sharing some of our Fall Favorites!! Halloween isn’t my favorite holiday but making cards for fall is! And I do love making backgrounds with distress oxide inks! For this card, I tapped out Carved Pumpkin, Fossilized Amber and Black Soot onto my craft mat, sprayed on some water then just dragged my watercolor paper through the ink. You know the drill! 😀 Of course, I dried between colors! I then heat-embossed in black the skull image from an old CTMH set called Thriller and stamped the other images using Raven Detail ink.I have some fairly large alphabet dies and cut the letters from the panel with my Cuttlebug. After popping out the die-cut letters I adhered a strip of the beautiful Tangerine Glitterstock behind the openings. I then reattached the letters by lifting them with Thermoweb’s 3D Foam Squares.I heat-embossed the sentiment right onto the card front then attached it all to a black card base. I used the All-Purpose Craft Glue to attach a few sequins to accent the shiny Glitterstock! Bring on the fall!! Let’s take a peek at the Inspiration Team’s Fall Favorites! BERINA HEATHER B. MARIE JESSICA
I’m having so much fun choosing which Glitterstock color to use for a new project and decided to use Tangerine for this card! The color itself prompted a Halloween card with it’s gorgeous rusty-orange glitters! To begin this card, I tapped Carved Pumpkin distress oxide ink onto my craft mat then spritzed it with water and dragged my watercolor cardstock through it. After drying with my heat tool, I used Black Soot next, again drying before adding my final color, Dried Marigold.
If you look closely you can see the faint impression of Winnie & Walter’s Scenery stencil which I foiled using Thermoweb’s Deco Foil in Copper! It made me think of a spider web! Anyway, after dusting the surface with my Embossing Buddy, I heat-embossed my Inkadinkado stamp in black right over all the colors!I have a skulls and crossbone stamp which I use on my biker cards, and thought it’d make a fun accent so stamped that in Raven Detail ink over the background. Next I used my Stitched Rectangle dies to cut the panel and also cut the edge of a strip of Tangerine Glitterstock and attached them together with Thermoweb’s Sticky Tape Runner, then mounted it to a panel of white card stock. I used my scissors to rough up the edges of the white paper.I adhered the panel to a black card base which I embossed with Tim Holtz’ Gridlock Set folder, then added some copper sequins for a bit of bling to accent the Glitterstock on the left! The sentiment is from a retired CTMH set called Thriller and I heat-embossed it onto white scraps, trimmed it down and mounted it with Thermoweb Sticky Dots! I love how all the pieces came together in this card! If you’re looking for a great glitter card stock, be sure to consider Brutus Monroe’s Glitterstock! It comes in a variety of colors, doesn’t leave glitter “crumbs” at all and cuts like a dream!
I recently purchased this beautiful flower stamp, Large Posy by Hero Arts, from a member of a Facebook stamping group I’m a part of. It’s a great way to add new and not-so-new stamps to our collections! And you may know by now that watercoloring large florals is my favorite! I made three cards with Large Posy and this is the first! I heat-embossed the image in black onto a piece of watercolor card stock, then scribbled the Zig markers into the areas with the most black lines. I then used a wet paintbrush to move the color, adding more color to deepen the shadows. This is a really quick and easy way to effectively watercolor! When the flowers were dry, I smooshed Mowed Lawn distress ink onto my craft mat, added lots of water then painted the background with it. By picking up more ink, and less water I was able to create a darker area around the blossoms. I dried the panel with a heat tool, then dripped water droplets onto the background. How about that grid pattern?! I pressed a grid stencil in the wet ink and then laid it onto the card being sure to only let the design go where the green area was. I die-cut two “prayers” from another set I bought from the group member (Hero Arts Stamp & Cut Prayers) and then heat-embossed the remaining sentiments onto strips of card stock and attached them all to my card front. Lastly, I spattered some black paint then mounted the panel to a base card of white. For my second card, I heat-embossed in white onto watercolor card stock, then watercolored the blossom with a couple purple Zig markers and a wet paintbrush. When it was dry, I again smooshed distress oxide ink onto my craft mat (Squeezed Lemonade), watered it down and painted it all around the flower. Another set I bought from the group is CTMH’s Beloved Blossoms and I inked up one of the stamps with Fossilized Amber and stamped it over the damp yellow background. THEN, I inked up Stampin’ Up’s Dictionary with Iced Spruce distress oxide ink and after covering up the flower with a quickly torn “mask” of paper towel, I added that to the background! I trimmed the panel down, adhered it to a white layer then to a gray base card. I don’t recall who makes the sentiment but I heat-embossed that directly to the card front. Finally, a few faux droplets strategically placed were the final detail for my card! Last, but not least, this pink and gold beauty was the final card I made with Large Posy. I heat-embossed the image twice in gold onto watercolor card stock, then created my background in the same manner. Smoosh distress oxide ink, water it down, paint it onto the panel. Add drops of water for a little interest, stamp over it with my script stamp and done! The flowers were painted with just a little of the oxide inks that were on my mat. I trimmed my panel down then used a corner rounder on two corners, added a strip of gold glitter paper to one side and attached it to my white base card. I had this embossed sentiment in my stash, so trimmed one end to a banner and adhered it with two big gold brads. I’m especially fond of pink and gold together and so I especially like this card! I hope you do too! 🙂
CopyCatCards 